As Matariki 2026 begins, the first pause is for Pōhutukawa, the star of remembrance, the whetū that carries those who have died since the last rising of Matariki.
For composer Anaha Hiini, that work of remembrance is also carried through waiata. Composing for loved ones who have passed is not new; waiata tangi have long been a way te ao Māori turns grief into sound. Today, this practice continues through haka and waiata, carrying grief, memories and love.
“Nō tuawhakarere tēnei mea te mamae, nē. He tikanga tēnei, kia mate tētahi, ā, ko te waiata te karawhiunga o te wā,” says composer Anaha Hiini.
[This grieving practice is ancient. It is part of our tikanga: when someone dies, song becomes the expression of that moment.]
He says, for Māori, the history of mourning was expressed in many ways, including a practice where kuia would express their grief through self-inflicted pain.
“Haehaetia ai te kiri ki te tuhu aneane e o tātou kuia. He tohu tērā o te whakamomori, o te tangi, o te mamae i runga i te mōhio, ahakoa te mamae o te haehaetanga o te kiri, kāre e paku tata ana ki te mamae o roto i a ia.”
[Our kuia would cut their skin with a sharp implement. It was a sign of deep grief, of mourning, of pain knowing that however painful the cutting of the skin was, it came nowhere near the pain within.]
A waiata for Janie Bennett
Hiini has composed many waiata for kapa haka, although typically around themes of love, mōteatea, or songs from te whare tū taua (the art of Māori weaponry) rather than grief. But when the kapa haka tutors of Te Kura o Te Koutu asked him to write a waiata ā-ringa for a student they had lost, he didn’t hesitate.
That student was Janie Taiiringa-Roimata Bennett, who died in December 2025 aged 16. She was also a niece of Hiini’s. The kura performed the waiata ā-ringa as part of their bracket at the recent National Secondary School Kapa Haka Competition in Tauranga. They were awarded top prize not only for the best waiata ā-ringa, but as the overall kapa haka champions for 2026.
To be asked to compose for her was an honour, says Hiini, but he admits it was also difficult as he hadn’t experienced the loss of a child as a parent.
“Kāre anō au kia mōhio ki tērā taumahatanga, ko te rironga o te tamaiti. Kāre au i te paku pīrangi ki tērā. Ko wai e pīrangi ana ki tērā taumahatanga.
Ehara au i te māmā. He pāpā ahau e mārama ana ki te aroha nui o te pāpā ki tana tamaiti, engari ki ahau nei, he rerekē te aroha o te māmā ki tana tamaiti, he momo aroha e kore rawa e māramatia e au."
[I do not yet know that weight, the loss of a child. I do not want to know it. Who would want to carry that kind of heaviness?
I am not a mother. I am a father who understands the deep love a father has for his child, but to me, a mother’s love for her child is different; it is a kind of love I will never fully understand.]
Waiata tangi as rongoā
Waiata tangi, chants or songs composed after a death, have long held a place in te ao Māori. Those traditions have evolved in this modern age where many kapa haka groups perform tributes such as waiata tangi through mōteatea, waiata ā-ringa (action songs), choral items and other contemporary forms.
When Hiini was asked how he would describe the significance of grieving through composition in three words, he replies, “Roimata, tangi, rongoā.”
“He rongoā tēnei mea te tangi. A tōna wā, ka tū atu ia i te ātārangi o mamae, o pouri kia whīwhitikina anō ai ia e ngā hīhī o Tamanui-te-rā...ka ea rā te kōrero, kua ea te wāhi ki tēnei mea, ki te mamae, engari he haerenga roa.”
[Mourning can be healing. In time, a person will move beyond the shadow of pain, of sorrow, and once again feel the rays of Tamanui-te-rā. That feeling, that pain will eventually subside, but it is a long journey.]
The tide as metaphor
When he began writing the song for Janie, it was her name, Taiiringa, that led him to consider a song about the tides of the sea. From here, his composition began to unfold, starting with an image of a mother standing at the shoreline, looking out across the moana as the tide ebbed and flowed.
“Ko tāna tamaiti tērā kei te aronga o tērā wā, tū mokemoke ana, ki te ākau roa, kātahi te kōrero ka rere i konā tae noa atu ki te mutunga.
Engari he uaua tērā ki ahau, nātemea, ko te manako i tutuki i ahau, te manako rā."
[Her child was at the centre of that moment, standing alone on the long shoreline, and from there the story flowed through to the end. But it was hard for me, because I wanted to ensure I did it justice.]
The opportunity to present a gift, such as the waiata ā-ringa he composed for Te Kura o Te Koutu to perform, meant a great deal to Hiini. It was a koha not only to Janie’s mother and his Whanaunga, Heeni, but to the kura that continues to mourn her.
And so, this Matariki, Janie is remembered in song carried by the Pōhutukawa star into the new year.
E te tamaiti, e Tai, haere koe ki a rātou mā i runga i te rangimārie.
